Remember Cash for Clunkers? The Congressional environmental/stimulus program that was supposed to run all last summer but went bankrupt in 4 days? Which was counted as "success beyond anyone's imagination"? It was a disaster then, and as unemployment has ratcheted up, it's become a serious strain on people who need used cars. Jeff Jacoby explains:

No great insight was needed to realize that Cash for Clunkers would work a hardship on people unable to afford a new car. “All this program did for them,’’ I wrote last August, “was guarantee that used cars will become more expensive. Poorer drivers will be penalized to subsidize new cars for wealthier drivers.’’ Alec Gutierrez, a senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, predicted that used-car prices would surge by up to 10 percent. “It’s going to drive prices up on some of the most affordable vehicles we have on the road,’’ he told USA Today. In short, Washington spent nearly $3 billion to raise the price of mobility for drivers on a budget.

It didn't even boost car sales --it just shifted them up six weeks. And as for the environment....well, you can read that on your own, but the program was preposterous on that count, too.
Essentially Congress paid wealthy people a lot of money to buy their new cars weeks early, without reference to how that would affect working class individuals and families.